This Is Your Brain On The Toilet

"The internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life." - Andrew Brown

Yes, this is the umpteenth "internet problems" blog you've read today. But a needed perspective is a needed perspective. No, I don't think the internet is bad, I also don't think social media is bad, I also don't find anything wrong using the internet to create a platform to share whatever you need to share with others, or else I wouldn't be here writing a blog. So with that in mind, onward I go. The problem I have is not with the internet or people using the internet, but rather my problem is this: the internet is a toilet.

"Did I just...?" Yes, yes, I did. And I'll say it again, the internet is a toilet. Not just any toilet, mind you. The internet is a toilet trying to stay private, while strutting around in public. Nay, a royally unflushed toilet, with flies buzzing about, that's now been clogged for months- with all the aforementioned strutting. And when I say strutting, I mean it's been strapped to the top of the Soul Plane (you know, that awful remake of the movie "Airplane") with all the shiny fixings and obnoxious banners compelling you to focus on this toilet filled past the brim with only God knows what.

Nowhere else can people act, say, or do the things that they do on the internet... except the internet. We've found ways to distance ourselves from reality, while acting like we care about everything- or anything for that matter. For instance, when tragedy happens in real life, people will donate $1.00, buy something from a website, post an article, watch a video, talk about it on Facebook and Twitter (those 140 characters doe) and somehow they feel like they've accomplished something. "I said I was saddened on the internet- that's a hard day's work right there. I'm such a great human being for sharing a video, complaining, making a status, here's a sarcastic picture that really doesn't encapsulate the important issue I'm trying to talk about because the issue is much bigger and more complex than my wit." The truth is YOU DID NOT CREATE ANY CHANGE.

I'm not saying that all of those things don't have their place, but when that's all you're doing, you might as well be doing nothing. Congratulations, you complained about everything there is to complain about on the internet, did you actually get out there and get engaged? No, I got 40 likes on FB; I was raising awareness. I want to share something about awareness. If there is no action following it, it's not awareness. Anybody can be aware- they don't need another complaint or a whiney article to accomplish that. It's like looking at a fire and saying "There's a fire! There's a fire!" and then moving on to something else because it's become the popular subject for the week, while not even trying to put the fire out. Everyone can see the fire! Everyone knows it's there. What's not helping is continuing to talk about the fire as it gets bigger and bigger. It's become so easy to care about caring that it actually circles around and becomes negligence.

We care a lot about stuff over the internet if it's popular enough, but that's all it equates to. We care enough to say " I care about this" on social media, but we don't actually care enough to become an actual working solution to the problem. But of course not, right? That requires putting on pants, getting out of your comfort zone, not being easily offended by anything and everything, and crossing the border of where we think we're right and everyone else can take a hike, and getting to know all the people on the side who are not like us. And it's clear to me why the internet is so appealing in that way- we don't have to acknowledge those who have different opinions from ourselves, we can find any article from "I subscribe to these people.com" and run with it, and we can be overly sarcastic and bash everyone over the head metaphorically. We don't have to be compassionate, considerate, or understanding over the internet. And who needs to do that when we have the internet and the apperance of caring? We can just use the distance, anonymity, or even both that the internet gives us from others and become the toughest internet gangsta who wouldn't say any of that stuff out loud to someone's face.

It's all a big game of "I know you are but what am I?" We would say it over and over as kids, but it doesn't mean anything. Also, side note, it never answers the question! And just like that, all of our internet lives, and our complaints, and our articles, and our sarcasm don't fix anything. And it all adds up. That becomes the problem with the internet; it takes over our lives and we never do anything about it. The grass is always greener on the otherside, isn't it? But there's no grass on the internet (okay, I'm sure there's lots of pot on the internet, but I digress) and, thus, it becomes hard for us to see what we've been missing. And that's the sad thing. I love technology, but I do feel like overall it's making people more miserable. We can now connect ourselves to people all over the world, and what do we do with it? Complain about everything and start internet fights with people all over the world. It's incredible, really.

So, in short, use the internet- by all means, use it for whatever you've got to use it for. But stop substituting it for life. Stop posting more than you're willing to actually get up and do something about. There are always better ways to solve an issue rather than running to the internet, locking yourself in that little safe zone where you can do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't involve you actually helping to solve the problems and important issues we face on a daily basis. No one has ever solved any important by sitting around and pretending to do something. Stop being surprised that your internet actitvity isn't creating change. The process to making the world better isn't sit, click, boom. Let's start being honest with ourselves on that one, and start cleaning that toilet- you know what roses smell like by now.

And, yeah, I'm fully aware that this isn't going to make people jump up and start getting to where the getting is good (whatever that means), but it's a start. What should really be motivating all of us to start actively engaging in important issues should be our desire to see change for the better happen. Anything less than that, and you're getting what you deserve. If you aren't going to be a problem solver, then there's always going to be problems. So you have a choice- complain and do nothing, or do something and stop complaining. But I assure you, the latter is more rewarding and kills two problems at once. Think about it. Tomorrow you have an amazing opportunity to do something, if you haven't already. I advise you to use that time and see how much of a difference you can make. It can be the smallest things; spend that 4 or more hours (at least, based on some statistics) differently, and volunteer, talk to people you normally wouldn't, see life from someone else's view, take a different road home, to work, school, etc., dance, burst into song, burst into flames (don't do that one), have the difficult conversations, I said conversations; not arguments, conversations with others- away from a screen, sit next to someone you don't know, make a new friend, laugh at yourself. That, my friends, is how the world changes.

Make good decisions, love one another!